Role of Social Media in the US Presidential Election
-By Deepti Jain
Several reactions pour in on social media platforms hours after US President Donald Trump issued an executive order that would remove job protections for scores of federal workers. Notably, the Opposition saw it as a way to politicize the civil service at the time when the elections are just around the corner in the country.
On a closer look, the executive order which was issued on Wednesday created a new classification of federal employees titled “Schedule F” for employees serving in “confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating positions” that typically do not change during a presidential transition.
Walter Shaub, former director of the United States Office of Government Ethics vented his anger over this decision on Twitter and stated, “This is an attack on the rule of law. The laws protecting career federal officials don’t exist primarily for the benefit of the officials. They exist to protect the American people against career civil servants having to carry out illegal orders from political appointees.”
“If Trump wins the election, the little-noticed executive order he issued yesterday may be the most dangerous thing he’s done yet. It’s a bureaucratic-sounding topic. But, it moves the full might of the federal government into the unchecked hands of corrupt political masters,” Shaub said in another tweet.
John Sipher, former CIA Clandestine Service, also commented on the same on the micro-blogging site stating, “The result this week threatens to be the most significant assault on the nonpartisan civil service in its 137-year history: a sweeping executive order that strips job protections from employees in policy roles across the government.”
Jon Cooper, Formerly Majority Leader of Suffolk County Legislature (NY) also took a jibe at the US President by questioning When Joe Biden takes office as our next president, what’s the FIRST Trump policy or executive order you’d like him to reverse?.”
Not only that, but the Americans are also divided on Trump’s other executive order on social media bias. A section of the voters has a belief that Facebook and Twitter manage content concerning the US President equitably while the other group believes that these social media platforms are biased towards Trump.
On a closer look, the last US Presidential election which was held in 2016 was a classic case of the efficacy of a campaign strategy centered around social media platforms. The campaign conducted a detailed advertising plan on Facebook and Google that was fundamental in its success.
It is worth noticing that the role of Google and Facebook were also scrutinized by the US Senate in influencing the voters via the campaign. The US justice department had also initiated antitrust inquiries into Amazon, Facebook, and Apple. Notably, Facebook suffered many other prosecutions, notably, the Cambridge Analytica debacle.
Moreover, after the conclusion of the 2016 US presidential polls, the concept of fake news also grabbed peoples’ attention. Several studies indicated that more than 60 percent of American adults gather news from social media platforms, while a large number of fake narratives are loudened on Facebook and Whatsapp.
Furthermore, the users who consume fake news consider them as authentic. In some of the data, analysts found that Trump may not have been elected as President if not for the regulation of fake news.
So, here are some tips to spot real and fake news while you scroll through your social media feeds: Check the Source If you ever see a story from a source that you have never seen before, it's time for you to do some digging! The first step is to check the web address of the page you are reading. Spot the spelling errors, if there are any in the firm’s name, or strange sounding extensions like “.offer” and “.infonent” rather than “.com” or “.co.uk.” This could mean that the source is a suspect.
One must be aware that people who spread fake news and “alternative facts” sometimes create newspaper mock-ups or web pages. So, for instance, you see a suspicious post that looks like it is from the World Health Organisation (WHO), immediately check the WHO’s site and verify it.
Also, remember, even if you got the story from your best friend, this gives it no extra authority — they likely didn’t follow these steps themselves before forwarding! Examine the Evidence A true news story will have plenty of facts. It would consist of quotes from the experts, data from government sources, and eye-witness accounts from the people present on the site. If these are missing in the news copy or a social media feed, question it!
Does the evidence prove that the incident definitely has happened? or, have the facts been twisted to push the particular angle of the story.
Do not take Images at Face Value
Basically, present-day editing software has made it easy for professions to create fake images that look real. Not only that, even the research shows that the majority of the people cannot identify whether the image is real or fake. However, there are certain warning signs you can look out for. Strange shadows on the photograph, for instance, jagged edges around a figure. One can also make use of the Google Reverse Image Search in order to check from where a photograph originated and whether it has been altered or not.
